On April 17, 2025, the North Carolina Senate passed its proposed $66 billion budget for the next two years. It provided hurricane aid for Western NC, small raises and bonuses for teachers, as well as removed $15.8 million for AP and IB exams.
Since 2014, the state has paid for any high school student taking an AP class to take the corresponding AP exam. This allows students to receive college credit for a course if they pass the exam, potentially saving hundreds of dollars down the line.
“When the state made the decision that any student enrolled in an AP course could register for the exam for free, the number of students registering for an AP exam greatly increased,” says Mrs. Miller, Enloe’s AP Coordinator and Dean of Students, “this created a scenario [where] more students [could] earn college credit for courses.”
In the last ten years, AP Exam participation has increased by 26%, according to NCDPI. At Enloe, over 3,600 exams are being given to 1,350 students just this year. Across the state, around two-thirds of exams given received passing grades acceptable for college credit.
“If students had to pay [for] AP exams, the number of exam registrations would [likely] decrease and may ultimately affect the number of students who enroll in an AP course,” says Mrs. Miller, “In 2015, it cost $92 to register for an exam. For 2025, it costs $99.” Many worry that students in the past who were able to earn free college credit with the program may no longer be able to afford it.
To mitigate this, the budget reserves $4.7 million to pay for economically disadvantaged students’ exams. According to the state’s definition, around 760,000 out of the state’s 1.5 million students would qualify.
Regardless, many are still worried about the cuts. Senator Phil Berger justifies the state’s new budget as part of larger administrative cuts to save money by, “eliminating obsolete programs” and “slashing some of the bloated portions of the bureaucracy.” This comes as the Department of Government Efficiency continues to cut federal programs in education and healthcare.
The budget also cuts programs that support new teachers and reduces central office positions in many school districts. In a recent press release, North Carolina Association of Educators (NCAE) President Tamika Walker Kelly expressed her concern, claiming the legislature’s budget cuts were “irresponsible” and came at the expense of public school families and teachers. The new budget did not include reductions in funding for private school vouchers.
Enloe’s large student body and extensive participation in AP classes makes the school especially vulnerable. In response, the Enloe PTSA staged a walk-in on May 6 in collaboration with NCAE to protest the recent cuts. “Enloe is historically, [a] politically active school which supports an extremely diverse community … [it] has so many opportunities for so many kids and we need to protect that,” says Cam Fyfe, an AP and IB student.
Fyfe is passionate about student activism and spoke at the walk-in. “An active student body … makes the school a stronger political body as a unit. When the school acts together they can effectively advocate [for] change.”
Sources:
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article304345036.html
https://www.dpi.nc.gov/data-reports/economically-disadvantaged
